Protest outside the German Embassy

[ozsamurai]

Outside the German embassy today hundreds of disgruntled employees are gathering to protest the laying off of 500+ factory workers at the Triumph factory, a German owned business that has been doing business here in Thailand for a reported 10 yrs. The chants from gathered protestors say that they have been used and feel the redundancies are not necessary. Leading the crowd, are pregnant women who were amoungst the first to be fired....

[dale8]

Hello, this a poor showing for the Triumph company. We do not know if they are having as much trouble as a lot of other companies, and the unemployment rate is much more in Germany than Thailand. I hope for the best in this weak economic time, but not all jobs are so safe as to be working there for life. This is another sad story for the poor working people, and maybe they can find work soon at a stronger place.

[007]

Outside the German embassy today hundreds of disgruntled employees are gathering to protest the laying off of 500+ factory workers at the Triumph factory, a German owned business that has been doing business here in Thailand for a reported 10 yrs.

The protesters seem to think, that subsidiaries of international enterprises in Thailand are run by their respective governments.

[sunholidaysun1]

Possibly the company will relocate to another poor nation where the wages for migrants are lower - Germany .

[Jingthing]

Yes, the protest target should be Triumph CORPORATE facilities. The German government has NOTHING to do with this. Yet another sign of irrational xenophobia to think it does. Lets face it, the people here need to be EDUCATED better about how the real GLOBAL world works, and not always blame their own problems on FOREIGNERS.

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying multinational corps are not mercifully exploiting cheap third world labor, of course they are.

Edited August 13, 2009 by Jingthing

[007]

Yes, the protest target should be Triumph CORPORATE facilities. The German government has NOTHING to do with this. Yet another sign of irrational xenophobia to think it does. Lets face it, the people here need to be EDUCATED better about how the real GLOBAL world works, and not always blame their own problems on FOREIGNERS.

Thais may be xenophobic, but in this case, I think, its pure stupidity.

[Harcourt]

Outside the German embassy today hundreds of disgruntled employees are gathering to protest the laying off of 500+ factory workers at the Triumph factory, a German owned business that has been doing business here in Thailand for a reported 10 yrs. The chants from gathered protestors say that they have been used and feel the redundancies are not necessary. Leading the crowd, are pregnant women who were amoungst the first to be fired....

Pregnancy gives immunity to recession? Or makes are more productive worker redundant instead?

If they are putting pregnant workers at the front, then it is a staged show rather than a sincere venting.

[Jingthing]

Thais may be xenophobic, but in this case, I think, its pure stupidity.

They are not mutually exclusive ...

[dondraper]

Outside the German embassy today hundreds of disgruntled employees are gathering to protest the laying off of 500+ factory workers at the Triumph factory, a German owned business that has been doing business here in Thailand for a reported 10 yrs. The chants from gathered protestors say that they have been used and feel the redundancies are not necessary. Leading the crowd, are pregnant women who were amoungst the first to be fired....

They want something for nothing? Gtfo.

[007]

Thais may be xenophobic, but in this case, I think, its pure stupidity.

They are not mutually exclusive ...

Agreed.

[mrtoad]

Outside the German embassy today hundreds of disgruntled employees are gathering to protest the laying off of 500+ factory workers at the Triumph factory, a German owned business that has been doing business here in Thailand for a reported 10 yrs. The chants from gathered protestors say that they have been used and feel the redundancies are not necessary. Leading the crowd, are pregnant women who were amoungst the first to be fired....

Usual blame the foreigner crap that has become so much more evident in recent times. Not much the German embassy can do, and maybe the workers should instead have a good hard look at their Chinese/Thai government that is to blame for a lot of things here. I really can't blame NMC's looking elsewhere to locate, Thailand has been shooting itself in the foot for the last 4 years.

[h90]

Yes, the protest target should be Triumph CORPORATE facilities. The German government has NOTHING to do with this. Yet another sign of irrational xenophobia to think it does. Lets face it, the people here need to be EDUCATED better about how the real GLOBAL world works, and not always blame their own problems on FOREIGNERS.

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying multinational corps are not mercifully exploiting cheap third world labor, of course they are.

very true.......they are also laying off a lot people in Germany. German economic does not look well at the moment.

[h90]

Outside the German embassy today hundreds of disgruntled employees are gathering to protest the laying off of 500+ factory workers at the Triumph factory, a German owned business that has been doing business here in Thailand for a reported 10 yrs. The chants from gathered protestors say that they have been used and feel the redundancies are not necessary. Leading the crowd, are pregnant women who were amoungst the first to be fired....

Usual blame the foreigner crap that has become so much more evident in recent times. Not much the German embassy can do, and maybe the workers should instead have a good hard look at their Chinese/Thai government that is to blame for a lot of things here. I really can't blame NMC's looking elsewhere to locate, Thailand has been shooting itself in the foot for the last 4 years.

For the last 9 years....

[mrtoad]

Outside the German embassy today hundreds of disgruntled employees are gathering to protest the laying off of 500+ factory workers at the Triumph factory, a German owned business that has been doing business here in Thailand for a reported 10 yrs. The chants from gathered protestors say that they have been used and feel the redundancies are not necessary. Leading the crowd, are pregnant women who were amoungst the first to be fired....

Usual blame the foreigner crap that has become so much more evident in recent times. Not much the German embassy can do, and maybe the workers should instead have a good hard look at their Chinese/Thai government that is to blame for a lot of things here. I really can't blame NMC's looking elsewhere to locate, Thailand has been shooting itself in the foot for the last 4 years.

For the last 9 years....

I was trying to be nice, but yes you are right.

[sriracha john]

International media coverage for Thailand...

A policeman stands guard outside the German Embassy during a demonstration by members of the Triumph trade union in Bangkok August 13, 2009. Protesters were urging German lingerie firm Triumph International to reconsider laying off workers from its Thailand-based factory.

REUTERS

==========================================================================

Members of the Triumph trade union in Thailand demonstrate in front of the German Embassy in Bangkok on August 13, 2009. Protesters were urging German lingerie firm Triumph International to reconsidering laying off workers from its Thailand-based factory.

REUTERS

[Hawkup2000]

Bad bad farangs for laying off Thai workers. Bad bad farang for owning land. bad bad farang for...

Would former Swedish McDonald's employees demonstrate in front of the US Embassy in Stockholm? Would former English BMW dealers demonstrate in front of the German Embassy in London?

In these days of economic downturn, cutting costs is normal. I'm surprised that the production line in a country with regular political turmoil and a relative strong currency have some lay offs...

Edited August 13, 2009 by Hawkup2000

[mrtoad]

I think the company has every right to layoff who it pleases, just as they do in any other country. Maybe Triumph should concentrate on providing jobs in it's own country, seems to be a lot of people out of work there, and it's not as if Thailand is welcoming foreign investment at present.

[MiG16]

ive edited the topic title a little bit......

[pavlovsdog]

Disturbing to think people can be so dumb. Then again there was a demonstration by Brits outside the Thai Embassy in London last week as Thai companys had raised the price of chickens being exported to the UK

Edited August 13, 2009 by pavlovsdog

[mrtoad]

Disturbing to think people can be so dumb. Then again there was a demonstration by Brits outside the Thai Embassy in London last week as Thai companys had raised the price of chickens being exported to the UK

I can see the Brits outside the Thai embassy complaining about the rise of bar fines next.

[dondraper]

Its kinda funny that they actually think the German Embassy is somehow correlated to Triumph.

[sriracha john]

Thai Triumph garment workers seek German embassy intervention

BANGKOK, Aug 13 (TNA) – Nearly one thousand workers of a foreign-owned garment company in Samut Prakarn on Thursday submitted a letter to the German embassy asking its government to negotiate with their German employers to return laid off employees to work.

Led by Jitra Kochadech, an advisor to the Triumph International (Thailand) labour union, the action came after the layoff of 1,959 workers from Body Fashion (Thailand), a manufacturer and a distributor of women's lingerie and swimwear under the corporate umbrella of Triumph International (Thailand), with the sub-brands Sloggi, Bee Dees, and Triumph Sport.

Ms Jitra said that the layoff was unfair as the unemployed labourers, most of whom had worked for the company at least 20 years and were union members, were not officially informed of the matter in advance.

She said the workers received only short messages via cell phones in the night of June 28.

The company said it was operating at a loss and therefore was forced to reduce the number of its employees, but some union members, including herself, believed the firm wanted to relocate its production base to new location with lower labour costs and without the labour union, Ms Jitra said.

The embassy representative accepted the letter, but said the company was not a state-owned but owned by German nationals.

Ms Jitra said she and five colleagues would fly to Hong Kong Friday to negotiate with executives at the Triumph head office there.

-- TNA 2009-08-13

[sanmiguellight]

Members of the Triumph trade union in Thailand demonstrate in front of the German Embassy in Bangkok on August 13, 2009.

I know nothing of Thai unions, but surely the fact there is a union is enough to put these workers to the top of this company's list when it comes to lay offs, so they can relocate to a country where workers wont set up such a thing.

PS They are misguided to go to the German embassy but fair play to them for trying to defend their jobs, not really a whole lot more they could do.

[redscouse]

Knowing how useless the British Embassy is I would be quite happy for my staff to congregate outside there shouting comments rather than congregate outside my office or house. I am sure this has had no effect whatsoever on Triumphs decisions and will never have any effect on Triumphs decisions. This would be like getting a bad Tom Yam in a Thai restaurant in the UK and then protesting outside the Thai embassy, I am sure they would tell you it has nothing to do with them.

Am I missing something and Triumph is owned by the German Government?

[redscouse]

Thai Triumph garment workers seek German embassy intervention

BANGKOK, Aug 13 (TNA) – Nearly one thousand workers of a foreign-owned garment company in Samut Prakarn on Thursday submitted a letter to the German embassy asking its government to negotiate with their German employers to return laid off employees to work.

Led by Jitra Kochadech, an advisor to the Triumph International (Thailand) labour union, the action came after the layoff of 1,959 workers from Body Fashion (Thailand), a manufacturer and a distributor of women's lingerie and swimwear under the corporate umbrella of Triumph International (Thailand), with the sub-brands Sloggi, Bee Dees, and Triumph Sport.

Ms Jitra said that the layoff was unfair as the unemployed labourers, most of whom had worked for the company at least 20 years and were union members, were not officially informed of the matter in advance.

She said the workers received only short messages via cell phones in the night of June 28.

The company said it was operating at a loss and therefore was forced to reduce the number of its employees, but some union members, including herself, believed the firm wanted to relocate its production base to new location with lower labour costs and without the labour union, Ms Jitra said.

The embassy representative accepted the letter, but said the company was not a state-owned but owned by German nationals.

Ms Jitra said she and five colleagues would fly to Hong Kong Friday to negotiate with executives at the Triumph head office there.

-- TNA 2009-08-13

OK now I can see their gripe but what they expect the German Government to do is mystifying. It has nothing to do with the German Government and is pretty much a pointless exercise. The company is making losses so people lose their jobs. Quite why the company is making losses is anyone's guess

[RickBradford]

Perhaps they've been reading about how the German government has spent $150 billion bailing out troubled companies such as HRE, Commerzbank, IKB, MobilCom, Dehler, and so on.

But then those companies employ Germans, in Germany not Thais in Thailand .... there's no votes in saving Thai jobs.

[SMEEERE]

Triumph ? german ? my father would turn in his urn !

[SMEEERE]

Its kinda funny that they actually think the German Embassy is somehow correlated to Triumph.

I agree, surely it should be BMW !

[dkstoney]

^^It's not the car manufacturer! It's a garment manufacturer of lingerie. Read it.

[geriatrickid]

They picked the wrong government. The holding company conveniently moved key legal governance to Switzerland. And we all know how the Swiss feel about other nation's tax and employment laws.

Just ask UBS and the Swiss government that obfuscated on the US tax cheats. Took the USA awhile but they made the Swiss blink. And now alot of national revenue agencies are lining up to go after their tax cheats, money launderers drug lords etc. If theThai union was on the ball they'd be embarrassing the Swiss not the Germans.